Judas and the Gospel of Jesus - Review

When my Mom and Dad came for Christmas, they gave me an N.T. Wright book, Judas and the Gospel of Jesus. I was eager to read stuff by N.T. Wright because he has been a formative thinker for many in the emerging and missional church movements. Christianity Today Magazine ranked him as one of the top 5 theologians of our time.
However, I wasn't all that eager to read a book about the Gospel of Judas - a newly discovered text from the 2nd century AD. I'm not all that in to conspiracy theories, and most of the people here in our church aren't either.
I wanted a light read, though, so I picked it up. I know - that says something weird about me that I consider a book about a 2nd century pseudo-gospel a "light read." I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked this book and particularly with how relevant his analysis is for us.
Here's his basic thought line.
1. "The Gospel of Judas" is a genuine text, authentically written in the early 2nd century, but it is not a "gospel" of Jesus of Nazareth. It is in a distinctly different genre and class from the canonical (biblical) gospels. Those are written close to history, heavily relying on history, growing out of Judaism. The Gospel of Judas is written within the context of 2nd century gnosticism and reflects that background in all of its style and theology. Gnosticism basically says that this world is bad (created by a weak or evil God) and that the spiritual world is the real deal (created by the one true God). Jesus came to rescue us out of this evil world of flesh and blood and to take us into the world of the spirit. Some of the quotes from the Gospel of Judas sound eerily like the cults in North America who committed mass suicide to "escape" into the heavenly (or alien) world by leaving their bodies behind.
2. N.T. Wright said we should reject the Gospel of Judas (as a description of Jesus) for two reasons: a) It's picture of Jesus has little resemblance to the Jesus of Nazareth we know from more historically reliable sources, and it makes almost no attempt to connect with history since its theology promotes a disconnect with the physical world. b) It's theology is bad. It promotes completely rejecting Judaism and all connection with the physical material world. This is contrary to the rest of the Bible and would lead to all sorts of negative consequences for our world.
3. However, the real twist comes in the final chapters. In the process of explaining why the Gospel of Judas doesn't measure up to what we should expect from a religious work in general, much less to what we expect from an orthodox Christian text, Wright also analyzes current Christianity and finds us lacking for the same reasons. According to Wright, and several scholars whom he cites, Protestant Gnosticism is rampant among us. Both liberals and conservatives fall into gnostic tendencies from opposite extremes. Liberals tend to act as if our moral actions in this world are irrelevant, since God only cares about our hearts. Conservatives tend to act like this world is inherently evil and damned, and that salvation will mean being rescued from this world. Orthodox Christianity, on the other hand, proclaims that this world really matters because God is in the process of redeeming us and this world. Salvation will not be removal to heaven (and the subsequent destruction of the cosmos) but the rehabilitation of creation and all created beings who go along with God's rehabilitation process.
Let me try to rephrase this. The subtitle of the book is, "Have We Missed the Truth about Christianity?" N.T. Wright answers: "Well, partly, but not because of the we missed some secret conspiracy-theory information that the Gospel of Judas brings to light. We are actually, presently, missing true Christianity because we are unwittingly buying into the same lies (a.k.a. heresies) that caused the Gospel of Judas to be written in the first place."
I learned a lot, and I'm eager to read more from N.T. Wright. I give it 4 j's.

Adopting from Krasnodar, Russia

[UPDATE: This post is about 3 years old, yet it continues to generate lots of hits - probably from other parents hoping to adopt from Russia.  However, I must report that we were unable to complete an adoption.  Because we do not live in our country of citizenship, it is almost impossible for us to adopt.  There are very good laws to protect children from child trafficking which also impede our adoption process.  However, feel free to read this post as one of our hopes which has been put on the shelf until our situation changes.]

As we have proceeded on this journey toward adoption, we have experienced some milestone events which are similar to the milestones birth parents experience.


Searching for an adoption agency that would work with us in our unique situation (US citizens living in South Korea) was comparable to trying to get pregnant. This was a long and somewhat depressing process. Sometimes we felt like it was never going to happen.


Finally connecting with an adoption agency and completing the in-house portion of our home study was analogous to actually getting pregnant. This was a joyous occasion for us. This meant that we were actually making real progress toward adoption. This meant we could really begin in earnest. This meant that it was truly possible for us to do this now.

A few weeks ago, we had our third basic milestone. We had a phone conversation with our case manager in South Carolina, with the full-blown Souther accent, and she told us that our child will come from the Krasnodar region of Russia. This feels very similar to when we found out that Emma was a girl. This is our first in depth bit of information about our child. (We had already decided to adopt a boy.) Before I even got off the phone with our case manager, Sarah was already googling Krasnodar - first of all to find out where it is, secondly to look for pictures, and finally, to find out some basic information about that region. The adoption agency we chose - Christian World Adoptions - works in more than 20 regions of Russia, so early in the adoption process they assign parents to a particular region.


Krasnodar is in the far southwest corner of Russia. It is on the Black Sea and borders the nation of Georgia. It is just across the Black Sea from Turkey. (Maybe we can visit our friends Paul and Hoom when we go to pick up our son!) Krasnodar seems to be the name of both a city and the surrounding state or province.

The people seem to be basically European in appearance. This is a picture of a group of kids in an origami class.

Here are some basic demographics of Krasnodar from wikipedia.

• Population: 5,125,221
• Ethnicity
• Russians - 86%
• Armenians - 5%
• Ukrainians - 3%
• Other (30 more listed, all less than 1% each) - 6%

• Population is 53.5% urban.
• Climate: "Mediterranean" or in the south east "subtropical.

Here's some more info from http://www.russiakrasnodar.com/.

• Krasnodar was founded by the Cossacs in 1793 to protect Southern borders of Russia. The original name Ekaterinodar meant 'Catherine's Gift'.
• Krasnodar is the administrative center of Krasnodar Krai, the most populous southern region of Russia.
  
• Krasnodar is situated on the River Kuban, approximately 1000 km (620 miles) south from Moscow, and 120 km (75 miles) north from the Black Sea.
• Today Krasnodar is a dynamic modern city - major industrial, agricultural, and cultural center, one of fastest growing regions of Russia.
• The population of Krasnodar (the city) is about 800,000 people, and it is 18th among the Russia's largest cities.
• Krasnodar Territory is one of the most attractive parts of Russia, with its boundless steppes and high forest-covered mountains. Russia's two southernmost seas, Black Sea and Sea of Azov, wash the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. The mountains are the source of the many rivers that carve their paths through deep gorges and canyons.
• Minerals produced here include oil, fuel gas, salt, hard coking coal, manganese ores, nickel, tin, copper ores, cement marl, volcanic muds, refractory clays, and lithographic stone. There are also huge deposits of construction and road-building materials, such as facing stone, shell rock, limestone, granite, marble, and more.
• The fuel and energy complex accounts for more than 20% of the territory's industrial output. Krasnodar is considered an old oil-producing region of Russia. Oil has been produced there since 1864, and 68 oil fields are operating today.
• With the highest quality soils and a favorable climate Krasnodar region has always been the principal "breadbasket" of the Russian Federation. It has 3% of all ploughed lands in Russia. It also has Russia's only specialized agricultural university. The region produces approximately 6% of meat and dairy products, 10% of all-Russian grain, 30% of fruit production, 60% of oilseed production, 90% of rice production and 97% of wine production.

That's probably enough for today, especially since this isn't nearly as interesting to most of you as it is to us.

Defining Vocabulary in the Homosexuality Discussion

A few weeks ago, I preached on Matthew 7:1-5, specifically, "Do not judge..." A small part of my sermon was calling us to be more compassionate and merciful to gay people inside and outside our community. One of my friends sent me an email later in the week asking for more information. I'd like to post part of her email and my response. I want to direct your attention particularly to how go about discussing homosexuality and how important it is that we are careful with what words we use and how we use them.

My friend:

I really enjoyed your sermon last week.  I really liked the part you said about going out of your way to show a gay person love.  I find
this is not the usual reaction for Christians, when it comes to homosexuals.  But it seems like they need it the most!  So, cheers to
that!  I find it very difficult to understand them, but I know that I cannot judge them or their backgrounds that got them to where they
are.  And I think that too much damage has been done by some people who say they follow Jesus, that they certainly don't need me to add to
it.  My job is just to love them and accept them.

But, what I wanted clarification on, was what you said about the issue being debatable.  Did you mean that many people debate whether it is a
sin?  Or did you mean whether the Bible was unclear on it?

For me, the Bible is clear on the subject.  There are many things that it doesn't say anything about, such as if music and dancing are okay
or if drinking in moderation is possible.  But I feel that homosexuality is very clearly mentioned as off limits for the
Christian.

I want to know, I guess, how you interpret Scripture. 

My response:
Thanks for your feedback and your question.
Actually, in my sermon, when I said that homosexuality is "debatable" or "disputable," I meant that it is actually debated and disputed. I think that any time there are a wide variety of Christians (especially Christians whom we otherwise respect) who have differing opinions about an issue (ethical, political, theological), then we should approach those issues with a great deal of humility and a high expectation for mutual listening. I also tend to believe that we should not let issues like this (issues on which there is widespread standing disagreement) divide our fellowship.
Many Christians from a wide range of backgrounds and denominations take stances on both sides (or on the fence) on this issue. I have been very surprised to discover many otherwise very conservative Christian leaders who are fairly outspoken either in favor of gay marriage or in favor or an intentional stance of ambiguity.
Homosexuality is clearly in a different category than many other debatable issues (issues for which there is little or no direct discussion in the Bible). I think it is unwise and possibly prideful for us to say this issue is crystal clear when so many people within the body of Christ clearly disagree. I also don't think it will do to say that anyone who believes that homosexuality is OK is clearly not a Christian. So in terms of our interaction and discussion on this issue, I feel a deep need for humility and awareness that any of us (or all of us) might be wrong.

OK, so that's where I was coming from in the sermon, but that doesn't fully answer your question. You want to know what I believe and how I interpret scripture on this issue.
Before I answer that question, I think it would be good to discuss the issue of language. Many times our discussions and judgments get cloudy or inaccurate because of a muddled use of language. Here's what I mean. "Homosexuality" is a sexual or romantic attraction to the same gender. It is a descriptive term of a person's "orientation" or desires. A "homosexual" is a person who has or feels this orientation. "Homosexual practice" is sexual activity (including intention and mental fantasies) involved in a homosexual relationship.
As I understand it, even from the most conservative view point (which is still rationally consistent), only homosexual practice would qualify as sin. Having an illegitimate desire is not sinful. Acting on that illegitimate desire with our minds or bodies is sinful.
We have to apply the same standard that we apply to heterosexuals. For example, there were times when I was in college, when I really wanted to go to a Frat Party and have a one night stand. That desire was illegitimate. However, simply wanting to have sex was not sinful. That is very natural. If I had acted on that desire for a one night stand, or if I intentionally fantasized about what that would be like, then that would be sin.
My point here is that simply having homosexual desires or a homosexual orientation is not sinful. For example, there are many Catholic priests and nuns who are gay. The most famous was Henri Nouwen. He chose to be celibate so that he could remain faithful his vows within the Catholic church (and possibly to his understanding of the Bible - I don't know about that). Yet Henri Nouwen has been a source of inspiration for Christ-followers around the world. The fact that he was attracted to men and not to women is irrelevant since he didn't take action on that attraction.
This may not seem like an important point, but it is. When we condemn "homosexuality" in general, we are condemning people for their desires and orientations - regardless of how they have acted in response to those desires. We are condemning people who valiantly choose to be a single, celibate gay than any of the other options available to them.
From another perspective, my personal desires are for an abundance of unhealthy foods. I could eat ice cream and barbecue and nachos until I was 400 pounds. My desire for those foods is clearly out of balance and illegitimate (gluttony). However, I'm not acting on those desires to overeat (at least not often), so the desires remain the realm of potentiality (or temptation) not actual sin.
So, even though the language is a little awkward, I think we need to make the discussion about "homosexual practice" not "homosexuality." People may or may not be able to change their orientation or desires, but all people can change their actions. I know that there are several Christian programs to help gay people go straight, but they don't work for everyone.
Also, if we attack "homosexuality," most gay people will feel like we are attacking their very identity - who they are as a person. That is very different from attacking sins like: gossip, lying, debt, etc. Our identity is not usually wrapped up in those issues, but for most people their sexual orientation is part of their identity as a person.

I still didn't answer her last question - about how I interpret scripture on this issue - but I decided to stop there. I think this discussion of language is prior to how we interpret scripture, which is bound up in language. I don't think this is the time or place for me to make a definite statement about how we deal with the scriptures on this issue. However, I think it is fair to say that this issue is extremely complex and heavily laden with emotional connotations. We need to talk about it, and we need to talk humbly, with lots of grace, and with a deep desire to learn from the other people who are talking.
My prayer in all of this is that we will be truly faithful to Jesus in all of this, and being truly faithful may necessarily mean leaning hard toward grace and mercy.

The Shack - Review

I just finished reading a great book, The Shack. I got it on Sunday night, and by Tuesday morning I was done. That is incredibly fast for me.
Eugene Peterson's endorsement will give you a taste of why this book is good: "When the imagination of a writer and the passion of a theologian cross-fertilize the result is a novel on the order of The Shack. This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress did for his. It’s that good!"
Here's the basic plot summary from the back cover: "Mack's youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation, and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend."
The book specifically asks us not to give away the secrets of the book when writing reviews. Let me just say this. This book is great for several reasons.
1. It has soaring theology. It's picture of the Trinity is both shocking and beautiful.
2. This theology arises naturally - and without any effort to the reader - from within the flow of the narrative. The narrative gives birth to the theology, not vise-versa as in McClaren's trilogy.
3. This book gets at some of the core issues most of us wrestle with when dealing with spiritual things: the problem of suffering, the nature of God, and the nature of relationship with God.

As with any book, there are points at which I disagree with the author (William P. Young). If you read the book, we can talk about those. However, over all, I am blown away by this book's amazing picture of God and life transformed by God's loving presence. I highly recommend it: easily 5J's!
Thanks to Ron Thornton - a KNU newbie bound to be a regular conversation partner - for a great loaner!

ONE PRAYER - collective church series

What do you think about this?



You can read more about it at this site.
My prayer/sermon would probably be: "Make Us Connected."
Is participating in this worth diverging from our church's series on the book of Matthew? We'd have to leave out about 2 chapters of Matthew to be able to do this.
I'm interested in your feedback.

Anniversary Celebration - Itaewon

A BIG thanks goes out to our friends Seth and Ann who spent the night with Emma so we could take a trip to celebrate our anniversary, and also to YoungJu and Jolie who held down the fort with Emma until Seth and Anne could get there!! You guys are great!
Friday night Sarah and I escaped to Seoul. We went to Itaewon - the central spot for all things foreign in Korea. We had a great little hotel - which we never would have found without Seth and Ann's recommendation, and we went to a nice Italian restaurant. After supper, we delighted ourselves with a little walk and then some luscious ice cream from Cold Stone Creamery - possibly the best ice cream in the world.
This was our first real venture into Itaewon. Before this, I had always kind of scoffed at how the foreigners flock there. I had made a brief trip in before, and it just didn't seem like all that much. However, this time with hours on hand and no kid to drag along, my eyes were opened to the great - um - beauty? - or at least attractiveness of Itaewon. I was consistently amazed at how many foreign restaurants were there, one after the other: maybe a dozen Italian places, African cuisine, Middle Eastern, Indian, Thai, Japanese, etc.
Itaewon is also the home of the best English bookstore in Korea: What The Book. Sarah and I made a little venture into that mecca, and she had to pry books out of my hands.
After that, we picked up some cheddar, sour cream, and green beans at a foreign food store. That will stave off another trip to Costco for at least a month. Before we hit the subway stop, though, we shared one last bowl of Cold Stone sweet-God-has-definitely-blessed-this-stuff ice cream.
All in all, this was the best anniversary trip since we've been in Korea. Definitely gets the 5J rating.

Matthew 8:1-17 - Restoring Community

KNU International English Church

March 30, 2008

Josh Broward

I am a reject. I am an outcast. I am an exile.

When I was growing up, I was never one of the popular kids. I was always a little awkward socially, and I was overweight.

I remember one time in the 5^th grade when our school was having a carnival. Some of the kids in my class got into a water fight near the dunking booth. I had a crush on a girl in my class, so I did what most boys do in 5^th grade who like a girl – I attacked. I poured a big bucket of water on her head. She shrieked and laughed and turned to run after me – which is, of course, exactly what I wanted. I got the impression that she actually liked getting soaked in water and might actually like me.

In true 5^th grader style, I took the great courageous step of asking a friend to ask a friend to ask the girl if she liked me. I sent off my messenger. I watched him have a short meeting with the female messenger. Then, a group of giggling girls - armed with female intuition - smelled the drama in the air, and a flock of geese laughed and whispered their way into the girls’ bathroom.

After a minute or two, there was an explosion of girls going every which way, and one was making a B-line for us. She got a few meters away from me and said with snorts of laughter, “She said, ‘I wouldn’t go out with that fat slob!’” I was left to skulk away on my own, knowing that this story would be retold countless times around the school.

When my family moved to Texas, I had a new experience. I was now also the minority. I was usually the only white kid on my school bus. This wouldn’t have bothered me if it hadn’t bothered the other kids so much. They seemed to feel like I was their opportunity to express all of their frustrations for the times when they were the minorities. I experienced a general sense of isolation along with some staring and name calling.

Once, the community tough guy started a fight with me – simply because I was white. When we were fighting, I was surprised to find that other people on the bus were also hitting me – taking their cheap shots while I wasn’t looking.

Often, when I got off the bus at my bus stop, the kids would look out the window and shout racial slurs at me. Sometimes they would spit at me as the bus pulled away. I learned to walk quickly to get out of spitting range.

Most of my childhood and early adolescence was a longer replay of these basic scripts, usually with much less drama. All of this caused me some problems with my identity as I was growing up. It might have sent me into a depression – as I have seen happen many times. I might have become a racist – as several of my classmates in the “Deep South” were.

But something saved me. As a young teenager, I became a Christian. God’s love for me began to override my peers’ rejection of me. But just as importantly, I experienced love and acceptance and community through the Church. Through my church and other churches in our area, I developed beautiful relationships with people with every color of skin. In a very real way, God saved me and healed me – through the church.

For the past two months, we’ve been studying Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. This is Jesus’ most famous teaching. He is explaining the way of the Kingdom, and he calls his followers to live in radically different ways in the world: loving our enemies, showing mercy, speaking with humility, keeping our promises, trusting God, and not worrying about money. Jesus summarizes all of this in one simple sentence: “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you” (Matthew 7:12).

In chapters 8 and 9, Jesus begins to live out this Kingdom way of life. He meets three people who are rejects and outcasts, people on the margins of society. Jesus gives healing to these people, and, in the process, he gives healing to their communities as well.

Let’s read these three stories in Matthew 8:1-17.

Let’s take a look at these three stories. Who were these people? Why were they outcasts or marginalized[1]?

The first person was a leper. Leprosy was the most-feared disease of ancient times. If you got leprosy, your body would literally rot away piece by piece until you were all gone. There was no cure, and the only known way to prevent it was total isolation. Leviticus explains the life of a leper: “Those who suffer from a serious skin disease must tear their clothing and leave their hair uncombed. They must cover their mouth and call out, “Unclean! Unclean!” As long as the serious disease lasts, they will be ceremonially unclean. They must live in isolation in their place outside the camp” (13:45-46). Jesus broke the rules simply by touching this man.

The second contact was actually with a pair of people, a Roman officer and his slave. These were gentiles. This word is similar to the Korean word weigookin, but it is much stronger. They were ethnic outsiders – not Israelites, and they were religious outsiders – not Jewish. Even worse, this man was a leader in the Roman army which was occupying and oppressing Israel. Israelites hated Romans like Koreans hated Japanese soldiers 70 years ago. Jesus would have offended many people by giving any help at all.

The third story is about a woman – Peter’s mother-in-law. Women were considered second-class citizens, maybe half a step up from slaves. They were not considered a valuable part of society, and a good Jewish man didn’t talk to women. Jesus broke the rules again just by touching her.

Imagine with me for a few minutes what kind of community this would have been. A righteous Jewish man of Jesus time probably prayed this prayer every morning:

Blessed are You, Eternal One our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who did not make me a woman.
Blessed are You, Eternal One our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who did not make me a Gentile.
Blessed are You, Eternal One our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who did not make me a slave.

Give me some audience participation. How would you describe this community? What adjectives describe the life of this community? … arrogant, isolated, fragmented, fearful, hostile, shaming, lonely, unloving, broken?

What we see here is a basic rule of life. When people are broken and rejected, the community is broken. When people live in unhealed brokenness, the relationships and systems of the community are fundamentally broken. Broken and rejected people are evidence of a problem in the community.

When the community rejected those lepers, they were making brokenness and separation a permanent part of their communal life. When the community rejected and condemned gentiles, they were cutting off contact with the outside world, limiting themselves to their own perspectives, and limiting God’s love to themselves. When the community pushed down their women, they were cutting their society in half, institutionalizing hostility and oppression and injustice.

When Jesus brought healing to all of these people, he was breaking through his society’s walls of hostility and rejection. He was restoring those rejected people to the community, and he was restoring the community to include the rejected people. By bringing healing to individuals, he was also bringing healing to the community.

But what about us? Do you know anyone with leprosy? None of us are practicing Jews, so we don’t have a problem with gentiles. And most of us are pretty comfortable with women playing an equal role in society. What do these stories have to say to us today?

Maybe we can get inside these three stories. Maybe we can begin to see these three people as living breathing people in our lives.

Maybe Peter’s mother-in-law could represent people in our families or in our churches who are marginalized or suffering or sick. Who is pushed to the edges around here? Who might feel unwelcome or lonely here? Who might be feeling unloved in your own home? Mother Theresa said, “The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.”

I got an email this week from someone, who is a conservative Christian, and she is wrestling with how to be a good friend to her friend, who is gay. This is her first time to have a gay friend, and she isn’t quite sure what to do. She wrote,

Do I tell her she’s wrong if she asks? Do I engage her in philosophical/theological debate? Do I just let her be and be a friend if she needs one? Or do I go the opposite extreme and tell her that everything she’s doing is A-OK and natural (as some of her close friends do)? Or a mixture of all of the above? Or nothing?

I’m not sure exactly how to answer my friend’s questions, but I’m impressed with her commitment to be a faithful friend and to keep the relationship going. In the process of trying to figure out how to be a good friend, she has become an active learner. She has read a book about homosexuality and watched a reality TV show about a conservative Christian guy who lived with a gay roommate in San Francisco for 30 days. She is trying. She is working at it.

Even when community is hard, Jesus calls us to do that hard work of friendship and to learn to genuinely love each other. Who is your “mother-in-law”?

If we really get inside this story, maybe the man with leprosy can represent for us the people pushed to the edges of our society. Who is our leper? Who are the people we feel uncomfortable just being around? Are they orphans? Are they the migrant workers? Are they the homeless? Are they the hard-drinking, hard-smoking, hard-joking, hard-partying crowd?

I’m excited that some people in our church are reaching out to all of these groups of people. On Monday mornings, Stephanie and some other folks go to an orphanage here in Cheonan, just to play with the kids. Every other Saturday, Chris, Isabel, and the other folks from Compassionate Hearts Ministry go to Cheonan Station to give out kimbap to homeless men. Many of you have donated your old clothes, and this week several people from the Cheonan Migrant Workers Center came to my office to pick up a van load of clothes. Chris and I are talking about how we can have more fellowship with this center. YoungMin, Byron, Lindsey, and a few others play pool downtown with a group of hakwon teachers who tend to feel pushed away by church.

If we are followers of Jesus, we need to go with Jesus to the margins. We always need to be looking for the people our society or our church has pushed aside. We need to find those people and restore community by restoring the bonds of love to them.

If we really get inside this story, then maybe the Roman officer and his slave can represent someone in our lives too. Who is our “gentile”? Jesus healed this gentile’s slave without even going to his home? Who needs long-distance healing through us?

A 40 year old woman sat by the door of her hut in Swaziland (a small country inside South Africa). Her body was twisted into strange shapes as she tried to find a comfortable position. Cancer was attacking her breast, her stomach, and her back, so the slighted touch caused great pain. She leaned sideways against the chair and watched her children playing outside. Her mind moved into the future, and despair filled her face.

This pain of the future was her greatest pain of all. It was the pain of a mother infected with HIV, facing her last days. She knew that in a few months her children would be orphans.

This courageous woman turned to the team from the Nazarene Compassionate Ministries AIDS taskforce who was visiting her home. She spoke very softly, trying not to cough: “Who is going to take care of my children?”

More than 12 million children in Africa are orphaned because of AIDS. Like the Roman officer coming to Jesus, these African mothers and fathers cry out to us, “Who will take care of my children?”[2]

Some of you have already taken up this challenge by sponsoring a child. For only 25,000 won a month, you can make sure at least one child has enough food and a good education. Talk to Amanda to sponsor a child (or go to www.ncm.org).

Our church has also taken up this challenge. We are going to Tanzania this summer to help build a training center for Christian leaders in Africa. These leaders are actively engaging their communities in taking care of the children. We’re doing a small part to help them do that.

What will you do to answer the cry from far away? Will you just turn up the sound in your MP3 player? Will you toss a little money their way so you’ll feel better? Or will you get involved? Will you give your time, your energy, your heart to bring healing and to restore community?

Who is your suffering family member? Who is your leper – rejected by people in your social group? Who is your “gentile” far away asking for your help?

Here’s the key part. If we really get inside this story … if we see these three people as people in our lives, then who are we in this story? If we really get inside this story, and if this story really gets inside us, then we will be the Jesus who reaches out and loves and helps the people whom everyone else rejects or ignores. We become the people who break social barriers for the sake of love and healing. We become the people who restore people and develop a restoring, healing community.

Are you ready for this? Are you ready to live like Jesus?

---

[1] The “margins” of this paper are the blank spaces on each side where there are no words. Marginalized means: pushed to the edges of society, not allowed to participate as an equal citizen.

[2] Trino Jara, “Where Is Our Heart?” NCM Magazine, First Issue 2008.

What's up USA? Cheers to Europe!

This is from www.freerice.com:
The United Nations estimates that the cost to end world hunger completely, along with diseases related to hunger and poverty, is about $195 billion a year. Twenty-two countries have joined together to raise this money by each contributing 0.7% (less than 1%) of national income. Some of the countries have already met this goal. Others are being a little slow, but this can be fixed. You can see how the countries are doing here. You can print a letter to support your country’s participation here.


Did you get that?
If all of these 22 countries give just 0.7% to international development aid, we can completely eliminate world hunger and all diseases related to hunger and poverty. ALL of these countries promised to meet this pledge.
If you click on the link above to "see how the countries are doing," you'll see that the USA next to last among the 22 countries who have promised to increase their international development aid to 0.7%. My home country (USA) is currently giving a meager 0.17%, while 5 smaller European countries are leading the way by already surpassing the 0.7% goal. Come on USA! Get your act together! Politicians and citizens need to come together to say that we will carry our weight in the international community, not just in military support but also in straight international aid.

Sweden, Luxemborg, Norway, Netherlands, and Denmark have already reached the 7% goal. 11 other countries (all European) have scheduled to reach the goal within the next 7 years or sooner. Switzerland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and USA still have not scheduled a year when they plan to reach their pledged 0.7% giving to international aid. What's the hold up? If you live in one of these countries, please contact your representatives, and ask them to help our nations fulfill our promise to the world.

South Korea, where I live, has the 11th largest economy in the world. South Korea is so new to being a developed nation, that they are often left out (or opt out) of discussions like this. No more! To any Koreans out there, please ask your government leaders to engage in the world community to by giving 0.7% of your national budget to international aid.

Easter Lunch Talk Sheet

This week, we are sending our people home with this short talk sheet. We hope this will help us all to have meaningful discussions during lunch. Feel free to use it with your own family or friends.
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The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.

– Mohandas Gandhi

Our World’s 4 Great Crises:

1. The Prosperity Crisis: Our global economy is producing great wealth for one third of the population, but this same global system is leading us to an environmental breakdown.
2. The Equity Crisis: The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. While one third of the world experiences amazing wealth, two thirds of the world struggle in (or near) poverty.
3. The Security Crisis: Increasing anger, fear, polarization, and advanced weapons make wide scale destruction (through war or terrorism) a real possibility.
4. The Spirituality Crisis: The world’s largest religions (Christianity and Islam) have failed to provide a framework for healing or significantly reducing these crises.

(Brian McClaren, Everything Must Change, pg 5.)

QUESTIONS:

• WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THESE FOUR CRISES? DOES THIS FAIRLY DESCRIBE OUR WORLD?
• WHAT DO JESUS’ LIFE, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION SAY ABOUT THESE CRISES?
• HOW CAN YOU WORK FOR THE GOOD OF ALL PEOPLE (See Matthew 7:12.)?

Easter Sermon - Matthew 7:1-29 - Elevating Ethics

KNU International English Church
Josh Broward
March 23, 2008

Read Matthew 7:12-29.

“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you” (Matthew 7:12). Without a doubt, this is the most famous thing Jesus ever said. This short saying earned the title “The Golden Rule” when Roman Emperor Alexander Severus had this rule written on his wall in gold.[1]

Let me give you a short quiz on the Golden Rule. I call this Elevator Ethics.

Question 1: You are on an elevator with several other people. Someone you don’t know gets on. He’s wearing one of those plastic nametags showing that he’s participating in a conference of some kind. He also has a long piece of toilet paper trailing from his shoe. The elevator door opens at his floor. What do you do? Do you tell him? Do you just let him walk out into the crowd of people?

Question 2: You are on an elevator. Earlier in the day, you had a wonderful but very spicy lunch. The spices are beginning to work through your system. You can feel your stomach rumbling. You try to hold it in, but suddenly you pass gas right there on the elevator. It’s one of those silent-but-deadly types. Everyone is making faces, and people begin to point to the slightly overweight, poorly dressed man standing next to you. Everyone thinks it’s him. What do you do? Do you speak out and take the blame, or do you walk away the as the secret farter?

Question 3: You are on an elevator, and a young woman gets on the elevator with a very cute T-shirt that has an offensive English phrase on it. This has actually happened to me. One of my theology students wore a shirt with a picture of a motorcycle and the words, “I wish my boyfriend was as dirty as my bike!”[2] No kidding! What do you do? Do you try to explain that the shirt is not so good? Or do you let her walk on in ignorant bliss? OK, we all know what Patricia would do, but what would you do?

How do we apply “The Golden Rule” in these situations? Is this what “The Golden Rule” is all about?

In the generation just before Jesus, there were two famous Jewish rabbis: Shammai and Hillel. Once, a Gentile man went to Shammai and said, “I will convert to Judaism, but I have one condition. You must teach me the entire Jewish law while I am standing on one leg.” Shammai was so angry that he beat the guy out of the area with a stick: “Heathen! Gentile! How dare you insult the Law of Yehovah!”

Later, the same guy went to Hillel and said the same thing: “I will convert to Judaism, but first you must teach me the entire Jewish law while I am standing on one leg.” Hillel said, “What is hateful to yourself, do to no other; that is the whole law, and the rest is commentary. Go and learn.”[3]

Jesus seems to agree with Hillel. As Jesus closes the Sermon on the Mount, he gives a one line summary his whole sermon: “Ask yourself what you want other people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God’s Law and Prophets and this is what you get” (Matthew 7:12).

That is very close to what Rabbi Hillel and many other ethical teachers have said. However, Jesus’ statement is different in several important ways.

First of all, Jesus’ statement is positive: “Do to others whatever you would like them to do for you,” not just “Don’t do what you don’t want done.” This might seem like a small difference at first, but it turns into something big.

A negative ethic – a philosophy of not doing harm – is very limited. It is focused on the do-not’s. It is enough not to steal; we are not required to help someone who has been robbed. It is enough not to commit adultery; we are not required to give assistance to prostitutes or to help people escape from addictions. It is enough not to hurt someone; we do not have to help those who are hurt by others.

A negative ethic is all about avoiding sin and avoiding evil. It isn’t about actively being good or doing good for anyone. We tend to live a negative ethic. We go our way and live our own life and try not to hurt people and try not to make the world any worse, but we do not go out of our way to make the world radically better.

Jesus says simply: “That is not enough.” Goodness involves real action. Goodness involves actively doing good things, not just passively avoiding wrong things. The way of Jesus is to actively work for the good of all people.

Jesus’ Golden Rule is different in another way. It is unlimited. The Greek actually says: “Everything whatever that you would like others to do to you, you yourselves do to them.” Everything whatever! In every last thing! Always and at all times! In every situation, in all your actions, in everything you do, from the big stuff to the little stuff, do it all as you would want someone else to act toward you. This is unlimited.

Jesus’ Golden Rule is also unlimited in scope. We normally interpret this rule to mean that we should be nice and kind to the people around us – Elevator Ethics. But Jesus doesn’t limit this to people near us. Jesus says, “Every last thing you want people to do to you, do the same things for them.” People are all over the place, all over the world, not just in our neighborhoods. This is getting more radical. The way of Jesus is to actively work for the good of all people.

Jesus says, “This IS the law and the prophets.” Everything written in the Law of Moses, every word from God spoken by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and all the prophets, every command, every promise, every warning – they all come down to this: “In every last thing, work actively for the good of all people.”

Then, Jesus warns us about people who talk big and act big but don’t live up to this Golden Rule (Matthew 7:13-23). Jesus says that simple unselfishness counts for more than big miracles or great church programs. You can tell if people are good or bad by their actions.

Are they just living Elevator Ethics, being polite and maybe even generous on occasion, but basically looking out for themselves? Are they involved in church, do they know all the Bible answers, do they smile and say Amen, and then go out and live their lives as if no one else really matters? Those are the fakes. They are rejecting God’s way in their daily lives. They’re going into the fire.

Are they actively working for the good of all people? Are they thinking about how they live and how they interact with the world? Are they asking how they can help the people who most need their help? Are they taking action based on these questions? Those are the real people. They will be welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven because they are already living God’s way in their daily lives.

Jesus concludes his sermon with a famous parable. There are two builders. The smart guy builds his house on the rock, and his house stays strong even when the storm comes. The stupid guy builds his house on the sand, and when the storm comes, his house falls down in a mighty crash.

What’s the difference between the smart guy and the stupid guy? Only one thing. The smart guy actually lived Jesus way, and the stupid guy listened to Jesus but kept living his own way.

When we keep this parable in the context of the overall Sermon on the Mount, we get a startling message. Remember, Jesus’ summary of all his teaching (and all of God’s teaching ever) is very simple: In every last thing, actively work for the good of all people, just like you would want them to work for your good.

So, the smart guy did this. He built his life on these words. He actively worked for the good of all people in every last thing he did. And he experienced God’s true life.

But the stupid guy didn’t do this. He was a good listener, but not a good doer. He listened to Jesus, and then went his own way, maybe being a nice guy, but generally ignoring the needs of others. In the end, his life came crashing down around him.

A paraphrase from The Message, helps us apply this to our lives: “But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach.” Going to a Bible study doesn’t do much good unless we actually live what Jesus says.

Rick Warren, author of The Purpose-Driven Life, says that in his church, at the beginning of every small group Bible study, the group checks to see if the people actually lived out what they studied last week. If most people didn’t put it into practice, they stop right there and talk some more about how to live out what the Bible is talking about. They don’t study another chapter until most people in the group can honestly say that they are putting into action what they studied the week before.[4]

How would that change your Bible study? How would that change our church? How would that change our world?

“Don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it” (James 1:22-25).

What is this “perfect law that sets you free”? Jesus says it very simply, “In everything, do to people whatever you want them to do to you.” In every last thing, work for the good of all people.

You and I might say: “But this is very hard. Everything is … well … everything! And that’s a lot. And all people … well … there are a lot of people. There are a lot of people in our world with a lot of needs, a whole lot of needs, starving people, poor people, sick people. There’s a lot of people. It’s one thing just to not hurt them, but to actively work for their good in everything I do? Well, that would take … my whole life! It would be … um … hard!”

Exactly! It will take your whole life. It will be hard. “Don’t look for shortcuts to God. … The way to life – to God! – is vigorous and requires total attention.” (Matthew 7:13-14, The Message). “You can enter God’s Kingdom only by the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

The way of Jesus is actively working for the good of all people in everything we do. This is hard! Let’s not pretend. It’s difficult. In fact, sometimes it will even feel like dying. That’s why Jesus talked about taking up your cross and giving up your life. This is the way of the Kingdom. This is the way of Jesus. With all of our life, we actively work for the good of others. We give our lives for those who most need our help. This is the way of Jesus.

This way leads us to the cross, to our own cross. But it is only possible because of the cross of Jesus, and even more, the resurrection of Jesus. Today is Easter, and today we celebrate that Jesus lived his own philosophy. He actively worked for the good of others wherever he went, and in the end he gave up his life for the good of all people. Jesus paid the highest price so that he could share with us the highest good – new life, God’s life, the Holy Spirit of God living and breathing in us, giving us the power to live in new ways, helping us to love our neighbors as ourselves, giving us the imagination and the determination to work for the good of all people. Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection, God is creating a new world in us and through us.

Easter is the day of global transformation. And this global change starts with the local action of one changed life. One person dies and experiences new life with Jesus. One person actually shapes his life around Jesus’ teaching: in every last thing, do what you want others to do for you. This local change starts what Shane Clairborne calls an Irresistible Revolution.

Our death is our life. Our unselfishness is the best thing we can do for others and ourselves. The Dalai Lama said, “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”[5] Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (Matthew 16:24-26).

Easter is the day of resurrection. Easter is the day that we lay down our lives again and experience Jesus’ resurrection again.

The way of Jesus is to actively work for the good of all people. Elevator ethics is not enough. This is a life or death choice. What do you choose?

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[1] Michael J. Wilkens, Matthew, NIV Application Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004), 313.

[2] This is a “double entendre.” The word “dirty” has a second meaning relating to immoral sexuality.

[3] William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2001), 315.

[4] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Church – International Conference, Seoul, South Korea, 2006.

[5] “Ethic of Reciprocity,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethic_of_reciprocity .

7 Years!

Tuesday was our 7th wedding anniversary. Marrying Sarah is one of the best things I've ever done. She is beautiful, kind, responsible, intelligent, and passionately loving. I am more in love with her now than I was 7 years ago! Sunday night, I was playing soccer, and Sarah and Emma were watching on the sidelines. One of the guys on the other team said, "Is that your wife? She's beautiful." I said, "Yes, she is!" I felt like a lucky man!
On Tuesday, I tried to visit her class, but I went to the wrong one. When it was empty, I thought she must have dismissed early.
But I caught her on Wednesday. She asked me to bring something to her class that she had forgotten at home. When I walked in, I wrote on the board a shortened version of a little poem I wrote in our first year of marriage: "I am the luckiest man in the world ... She chose me. I am the smartest man in the world ... I chose her."
Later in the day, Sarah and Emma surprised me in my class. Sarah had a notebook with the same poem (adapted to emphasize that she was the lucky one) written out page by page - in the style of Love Actually. Emma had a box of candy to share with the class. It was beautiful. Unfortunately, Emma stole the show when I told her to start sharing the candy before Sarah was done flipping the pages. I should have known that would happen. She's like Princess Di over here. Anyway, it was beautiful even if I do disagree with who is the luckiest and the smartest.
We had a foretaste of celebration by having a quiet dinner together under a small pavilion near our house. Joe and Elena took care of Emma, but after an hour it was time to go to small group. We'll have our annual anniversary trip next weekend. We are eager to try out a new Italian restaurant and Cold Stone Creamery (possibly the best ice cream in the world), both of which are in Seoul now. Our friends Seth and Anne have volunteered to watch Emma overnight as payment for my doing their wedding in February. I can hardly think of a better way to say thank you!

Family Update - Emma

Watching Emma grow up is one of the most amazing experiences of my life. She is learning and growing in every way. Sometimes I just watch her in awe.
This year, she started her second year of preschool. (In U.S. terms this year would be the equivalent of Pre-K.) On the first day of school, I went to an opening day celebration. All of the parents gathered downstairs in a large room and sat on tiny chairs in neat little rows. After about half an hour of prep time with the teachers upstairs, about 100 little kids came downstairs and sat on the front group of tiny chairs. Next came a 10 minute motivational speech for the children to work hard, study hard, be kind, and learn a lot. Then the director introduced the school and the teachers. Next, the students all went upstairs and the parents had a 20-30 minute orientation. I was really wishing I had brought a book or something to read. My Korean is definitely getting better, but it's still hard to stay focused when I only understand about 10% of what is being said. Finally, we went up to the children's classrooms to meet the teachers and see the kids in the classrooms.
Over all, I am very impressed with Emma's preschool. They offer lots of special activities, field trips, and after school activities. This year Emma decided to drop out of ballet and take up art instead. She loves drawing, so I'm sure she'll enjoy that. The thing that impresses me most about Emma's school, however, is the kindness of the teachers. I think they have really done an excellent job hiring and training their teachers. They are overwhelmingly kind and loving to the children. It's beautiful to see them interacting.
Emma is also continuing her piano lessons with our friend Adam. She loves going to piano and is progressing well. Right now she is learning to read music. The song she is working on now is "Ode to Joy, " or "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee."
Emma has started working through a math book for the pre-K level. It is teaching her to match things, to recognize which has more, and to write her numbers. She really likes it. She considers it something fun to do. Thanks Nana!
Here's a funny story to wrap things up. Like the rest of us, Emma was getting tired of winter. About a month ago, whenever we would go outside she would start talking to God, "God, please make winter go away forever. Please let spring come!" Surprisingly (to me at least), we have had an especially early and mild spring. It has been in the 50's most of this week. It seems like God has answered her prayer.

Family Update - Sarah

Sarah has started working at KNU. She teaches conversational English, just like me. She scored an easy schedule this semester. Everyone has fewer classes than normal, due to an added requirement of us taking TESOL and Korean classes, but one of Sarah's classes was canceled. She now has one less class than I do. However, she does more free talking. Actually, Sarah free talks with a flower design professor every week. (Free talking is just unstructured conversation, something that is very important for developing language skills and comfort.)
And, yes, we really do have flower design classes. We actually have a flower design major. I know it sounds a little like "basket weaving," but flower design is a big deal here in Korea. Some church boards actually have a position for the flower design trustee. Any major event will have racehorse style or funeral style huge 7 foot tall (2 meters) flower arrangements. It's quite amazing really. It's not uncommon to walk past the opening of a large business or the entrance to a hall where a big celebration is happening and see large banks of flower displays, which must total several thousand dollars in cost.
Sarah is also teaching at Emma's preschool. This turns out to be a great deal for us and for them. Sarah teaches there two hours a week, and Emma goes to school for free. I think last week Sarah taught them some simple songs like, "Where Is Thumbkin?" She said it's pretty fun.
Other news on the Sarah front, her ladies Bible study is starting up again. She has found new energy for this because of learning how extremely important the Bible study has been for one of the members who has been going through a difficult time. She is really starting to develop some good relationships with the ladies there. After the Bible study, there is a play group for the children.
Sarah is still trying to get adjusted to her new schedule at the university. It is a little more demanding than her middle school schedule, so she's still trying to figure out how to shuffle her time to make room for exercise, prayer, and household stuff. You could pray for us all about that.

The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents

Sarah and I usually read together before bed at least a few times every week. We've done this pretty much all of our married life. Lately it's usually been me reading to her because this helps her get to sleep.
Our latest book was The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett. This book won the Carnegie Award for Children's Literature, and it came to us on loan from Elisa Sutherland, who is doing a Masters in Children's Literature.
The back cover describes this book as "excruciatingly funny." That might be a bit of an overstatement, but it definitely had us laughing out loud again and again. It's an odd satire with a dry but strong sense of humor.
Here's the basic premise. The book is apparently set in Europe, roughly in the late 1800's, but neither are particularly important to the book. The main characters are a clan of rats and a wily alley cat, named Maurice. These animals initially lived in a garbage dump outside a school for magic (think Hogwarts). After eating some of the magical refuse of the school, a large group of rats were suddenly Changed. They became self-aware and rational. They learned to read, to write, to plan, to disarm traps, etc. Maurice, the cat, joins the thinking world when he eats one of these Changelings. Somehow Maurice and the rats form a peace and set off into the world to make their fortune and/or a better life for themselves. Hilariously, the rats all have names from food labels: Nourishing, Peaches, Dangerous Beans, Ham-n-Pork, etc.
With their newfound ability to think and analyze their world, the rats - thanks especially to their resident philosopher, Dangerous Beans - have an increasingly profound ethical code.
The rats have a copy of a children's book, which seems to describe an idyllic relationship between animals and humans, one of peace and mutual respect and equality. They are in search of such an utopia, but alas it is not to be. Eventually dark forces collude to crush their idealism. However, what emerges is a beautiful - and very funny - drama of beings of extremely different cultures and perspectives learning how to live together with synergy and mutual respect.
This book is of value simply for entertainment. It's a good story guaranteed to keep your interest (especially after you give yourself time to get into this alternative world drama), and it's guaranteed to get you laughing.
However, this book is also of value for several other reasons. It is a beautiful description of a community's attempts to deal with change and to reinterpret themselves and their world in the light of a steady stream of new information.
Also, as the book moves toward it's close, it offers a description of the beauty and difficulties of living in multicultural community. Perhaps because of my job as pastor of an international church, I particularly appreciated this.
Lastly, we get a few picture of the difficulties of leadership from the various perspectives of the different leaders who help to guide this book and their communities to the successful conclusion of this chapter of dealing with overwhelming change. Again, I resonate with this because of my role in leading a changing congregation in a changing world.
I'm torn between 4 j's and 5 J's. However, for the sake of keeping the 5J rating for books that are extremely good and/or profound, I'll give this very good book 4 j's.

Greatest Movie #33: One Flew Over the Cookoo's Nest

Last night Sarah and I watched, another of the greatest movies of all time according to American Film Institute: One Flew Over the Cookoo's Nest, a 1975 film staring Jack Nicholson with minor roles by Christopher Lloyd (Back to the Future) and Danny DeVito. This film was on loan from my friend Ken, who rightly warned me of it's weirdness. It is weird - in many ways.
Here's the basic premise: MacPherson (Jack Nicholson) is a small time criminal and general rebel. The movie opens with him being admitted into a mental institution. Apparently, he has faked insanity to be relieved of the hard labor involved in his latest prison sentence. He believed that he could simply finish out the remaining months of his sentence at the mental institution and go on his merry way. The problem is that mental institutions are not obligated to release you at any particular time. They can keep you until they believe you are "ready."
"Mac" eventually becomes friends with the other patients and develops respect and empathy for them. From his perspective (which seems to be partially correct), the institution is oppressing them and suppressing their natural moves toward health and individuality. In a wide variety of ways, Mac helps the patients resist the system and functions as an alternative (though not always effective or healthy) counselor for them.
If there is any "point" to the movie, it is recognizing the humanity of the mentally ill or social oddities. The humanity of the patients shines through with great poignancy.
Another possible point is that we as humans tend to like the safe confines of the "known" even if we don't like the "known," even the "known" is killing us. The vast majority of the patients are "voluntary," but one of the emerging themes is that they are too scared to face the outside world. They would rather be "crippled" than venture into the unknown. I wonder how often we are like that.
Sadly, in the end, Mac himself becomes a victim of the system. I won't totally spoil the ending, but I will say that is deeply weird - even if poetic.
Over all, I'll give it a rating of 4 j's, and that's surprising to me. Going into this blog entry, I was planning to give it 3 j's. I think reflecting on the point of the movie brought out it's extra "j" for me.

"With My Own Two Hands" Song

Check out this great song by Jack Johnson: http://uoregon.edu/~dla/eucalyptus/two.mp3.
It's true! We can change the world with our own two hands!
(Thanks, Joe for sending me this link.)